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The Loop
Watch Kelly Kraft hit a crazy recovery shot from the grandstands at the John Deere Classic
A PGA Tour pro hitting a crazy recovery shot from the grandstands? We've heard that one before. But this time, instead of Phil Mickelson it was Kelly Kraft.
During the third round of the John Deere Classic, Kraft hit his tee shot on the par-5 17th so far left it ended up in the grandstands between the 17th and 18th holes at TPC Deere Run. Kraft took relief, but instead of dropping in the area around the grandstand, he chose to play his second shot from the elevated walkway behind the stands.
Why purposely play a shot from such a spot? It seems Kraft liked the AstroTurf lie and the angle better. Although, as you can see from the video, the narrow area between the back of the stands and a guardrail barely gave him room to make a swing. In any matter, the 2011 U.S. Amateur champ hit a great shot over the trees and back to the rough, and wound up walking away from the hole with a two-putt par. Check out the wild shot:
And here's a different angle that shows just high off the ground Kraft was for the shot:
Creative, effective, and crowd-pleasing. No word on whether anyone has spray-painted "Kelly was here" on that spot yet.